City gets $25M commitment amid water crisis

John Todorovsky, is pretty optimistic about the new FlintNOW foundation.

The owner of Atlas Coney Island in the Vehicle City sees the new FlintNOW foundation, through Huntington Bank and Detroit Piston owner Tom Gores, as a way to keep his business afloat.

"The businesses are really feeling it especially the restaurant business,” Todorovsky said. “We are not selling shoes or tires we are trying to get people to come in eat drink so it's tough we are feeling the pinch."

It’s a pinch that just got $25 million to relieve it in loans and grants.

George Wilkinson of the Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce is huge fan of this initiative to show confidence in the Flint economy despite the ongoing water crisis.

"This is absolutely sensational," Wilkinson said.

The foundation is providing $20 million for Small Business Administration loans, $2 million for micro-lending, $2 million for home renovations, and $1 million in grants to assist and help those impacted by the water crisis.

“Huntington and Tom Gores play an absolutely important and significant role to us in terms of the partnership that they bring forth to the business community of Flint and overall to the residents of Flint," Wilkinson said.